I accidentally posted this in the wrong forum originally. Anyway, the driver's side CV axle needed replaced as it was groaning loudly on turns and clunking on light acceleration and braking. Go to remove it..and notice the nut has been unstaked, meaning someone either tried to remove it before, or replaced the wheel bearing and didn't restake the nut. Get the hub and all that pulled away, axle will NOT budge. It will slide in and out easily, but stops once it hits the circlip. Tried a removal tool, small pry bar, very long pry bar, and nothing would pop it free. Didn't put any more pressure on it in fear of damaging the transaxle case. I think I already ripped the oil seal on it. It really irritates me, I've worked on cars since I was a young teen and never before have I not been able to fix something. I had to call AAA and have it towed to a shop. I'm wondering if maybe the axle had so much slop (you could push it in and out a little bit) if over time it hammered on that circlip and flattened it out. I'm already broke as it is, and luckily got a brand new (not rebuilt) axle for $50. If they have to get into the transaxle to remove that axle, I might as well kiss my next paycheck goodbye.
I had to pull the axles to replace my transmission a few years ago. I remember there being very little to pry on and was very difficult to pry evenly to release the circlip. I don't remember much sliding of the end of the axle before that clip released, but I could be mistaken. I like to get better leverage when I do stuff like this. One trick that has worked for me in the past is to put a reasonable quality hose clamp around the fat part of the axle by the transmission and make it good and tight. The screw part of the hose clamp makes a pretty darn good place to pry without messing with the ends of the axle. Better yet, use two hose clamps and you can position them 180 degrees apart to a good place to evenly pop out the axle. Be prepared to waste a clamp or two, but they should be cheap. The axle seal wasn't bad to remove or replace. Only catch I found was they specified it had to be pressed in just beyond the edge of the axle casing. I got past that with an ABS plumbing connector from the home center and a washer made from copper wire. All that said, your description of the axle moving freely but getting stuck seems odd to me. From what I recall, there was very little play at the end of the axle. More if you grab the shaft I think, but that's because of normal play in a CV joint
Just to be clear, I put the hose clamp around the black (non-rubber) part of the axle shown above. There are some ridges that can attempt to use, but they are so shallow that they are worthless. Probably made for a Toyota shop tool. I don't think you should be able to see any of the shiny silver or brass parts of the axle shaft inside the transmission until that circlip has released. You also shouldn't be able to get at the oil seal in the transmission until the circlip has released. I don't think you really damage that seal until you take out the axle and somehow get part of the splined shaft to pull on the seal. I replaced mine because the scrap yard jammed plugs into the seal after they removed the transmission.
Yes, it can be very hard to apply pressure evenly to pry that inner CV joint out of the trans. Plus, you're usually lying on your back or belly with arms extended so you can't optimize the force you apply. Once force is applied evenly, the joint pops out and you wonder how it possibly could have been so hard. There are a number of Youtube videos of techniques to pull a stubborn axle. One guy uses an OTC slide hammer with CV removal tool from Autozone. Another builds a similar tool from bar stock and an electrical junction box he has cut into a C shape. A third uses a length of chain and a slide hammer. The consistent theme seems to be to get out from under the car into a position where you can deliver force evenly. Also, impact force (from a slide hammer, say) is easier to apply evenly than prying force.
Well the shop was able to replace the axle, they said they had it out in 20 minutes. I guess having the correct puller helps a lot. But rather annoyed, took the center cover off the wheel and the nut isn't staked (round edge punched into indentation). Should I stake the nut, or does it not need it?
I would stake it and not give it much thought. I personally think it coming loose is unlikely but it takes a few minutes and I assume you have the tools
As a fairly new Prius owner, I've appreciated many of the tips that others have shared here, and I'm happy to finally have something to add in return. I recently replaced both axle shafts on our 2007 Prius, and at first, I shared the frustration about the difficulty of popping the shafts out of the transaxle that others discussed here. It is hard to get enough leverage with a pry bar or large screwdriver, especially without a lift. I tried both of the AutoZone loaner tools suggested by tak1313 on Oct 19, 2022 in the Gen 3 forum (Driver's side axle won't come off - Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by taupehat, Mar 29, 2021), but neither worked on our Gen 2. The slide hammer adapter is too narrow to fit, and there is not enough open space to insert the wedge tool on either side. Eventually, I made my own slide hammer adapter, and it worked like a champ. A 3" U-bolt style exhaust clamp attaches securely onto the innermost segment of the shaft, and the rest of the tool allows the slide hammer to be used from the side. The only work that needs to be done under the car is bolting it on. In my opinion, this was well worth the low cost investment and the couple of hours it took to construct it. I've attached a writeup of how I made mine, in the hope that it will help others. A couple of other points: (1) You are going to lose some ATF when the shaft comes out, which you will need to replace. Consider how long it has been since your ATF was changed. This is a frequently neglected job, so chances are that it is overdue. Pulling the axle shafts is less messy if you drain the whole transaxle first, and if the fluid needs changing anyway, this is the logical time to do it. You will need at least 4 quarts of Toyota WS ATF. The drain plug takes a 10 mm hex (Allen) wrench or socket, and the fill plug takes a 24 mm 6 point socket. The aluminum crush washer for both plugs is Toyota 90430-18008. You will also need a funnel with about 2 feet of flexible tubing to pour ATF from above the engine into the filler hole. (2) Check for ATF leakage before you pull the old axle shafts. The driver's side seal is reportedly especially prone to leak. () My inclination is to leave the seal alone if it is not leaking, but if it is, the best time to replace the seal is while you have the shaft out anyway. The seal for the driver's side is Toyota 90311-35068.
Nice write up. Just remember to mention that you want to do the final transmission fluid check when the car is level. If only the front is raised on jackstands or ramps, then it's easy to get it wrong and overfill the unit. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
These are good points, but as long as the vehicle is APPROXIMATELY level when the fluid is replaced, all should be well. The fill plug is positioned so that the level will be correct when cold fluid is added to the bottom of the hole. However, ATF has a greater thermal expansion than most other fluids. Vehicles that have transmission dipsticks provide different sets of marks for hot vs. cold ATF. The Prius transaxle must necessarily have been designed to expect and tolerate this modest increase in fluid volume when the ATF warms up. A more serious error would be to remove the plug to check the level while the fluid was hot, and allow the "excess" fluid to drain out. This would cause the fluid level to be low when it cooled back down. My main point was that the ATF needs to be changed periodically. Curiously, neither the maintenance schedule in the Bentley Prius Repair and Maintenance manual nor the more extensive Toyota repair manual specify this service interval. This is surprising, considering Toyota's normal attention to detail. I did find one Toyota dealer's generic recommendation that "most manufacturers will recommend changing your transmission fluid" every 60 to 100 K for an automatic transmission, which seems reasonable. Any periodic change is certainly better than ignoring it completely. Draining the fluid is also the only way to check that the sump magnet has not collected a significant amount of metal, and to clean off any that it has captured. But this is diverging from the original thread topic of pulling the CV axle shafts...
